Cuomo Keeps Predecessors’ Executive Orders (Updated)

The Cuomo administration has issued six executive orders since the new governor took office on Jan. 1.

Three are connected to his State of the State speech announcements, creating the mandate relief and Medicaid redesign teams and the so-called SAGE commission (Spending and Government Efficiency). Another required ethics training for his top staffers and commissioners.

(It’s unclear to me what the first executive order was because it’s not listed on Cuomo’s revamped gubernatorial Website. UPDATE: That’s right, No. 1 was to remove the concerete barries from outside the Capitol…wonder why it’s not post on-line).

The other four were formally announced via press release.

Not so, curiously, for executive order No. 2, which announced that all previous orders had been repealed, cancelled and/or revoked with the exception of some seven dozen – one of which dates back to the Rockefeller era.

The Rockefeller order, issued Oct. 14, 1970, relates to procedures for submission and settlement of certain grievances of state employees.

Cuomo also is continuing a number of orders issued by his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, that did everything from establishing the Governor’s Offices of Hispanic Affairs and Indian Relations to renaming the DOH New Scotland lab building for the late David Axelrod.

Cuomo also kept most of former Gov. David Paterson’s orders, including the five he issued in the final month of his tenure – several of which were meant to take the edge of vetoes (the gubernatorial records bill and the hydrofracking bill).

There’s been next to no coverage of Cuomo’s continuation executive order. One exception: Housing Works made note of the fact that the governor had re-issued Paterson’s order protecting transgender state employees from discrimination.

Paterson apparently issued the order in 2009, but never finalized guidelines that determine exactly how the order would be executed. And now, there’s some concern that Cuomo might take his time in doing so.

“The fear with the guidelines not being released before Paterson leaves is that Cuomo takes quite a while to do things,” said Carmelita Cruz, director of New York State advocacy and organizating at Housing Works, which has been at the forefront of the fight for transgender rights, codrafting the GENDA bill in 2003.

“The fear is that he’ll take another year before the guidelines are issued.”

The Empire State Pride Agenda’s Jonathan Lang told Housing Works he has been in regular contact with the Cuomo administration about the guidelines and thinks they will be a priority, adding: “We don’t want to see the process dragged along for months and months.”

And then there’s this from Melissa Sklarz, director of the New York Trans Rights Organization:

“No one knows how he feels really about gays and lesbians, much less trans people. We all assume he will do the right thing, but we have received only vague talking points, and in my dealing with the campaign, I found them to be out of the loop on trans issues, even the most basic ones.”

Recall that during the campaign there was a Times story that questioned Cuomo’s history on gay rights – particularly marriage (he did mention it in the State of the State, but it was one of those blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments).